Trade and tourism will benefit from the fixed link across Fehmarnbelt says Swedes, Danes and Germans

12-12-2016Cross-border Barriers

The economic arguments for the Fixed Link appear to be accepted by a majority of the people in Skåne, Zealand and North Germany, but with some differences.

62 per cent of the people living on Zealand believe that the
Danish economy will benefit from the link, 37 per cent of the
people in Skåne believe that the Swedish economy will benefit and
48 per cent of the North Germans believe that the German economy
will benefit. However 56 per cent of the Swedes and 53 per cent of
the Germans think that the Danish economy will benefit from the
link.

Trade

The Fixed Link will improve trade between Scandinavia and
Germany say 64 per cent of the people on Zealand, 55 per cent in
Skåne and 54 per cent in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg .

To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following
statement: The Fixed Link across the Fehmarnbelt will improve trade
between Scandinavia and Germany?

Tourism

When it comes to tourism - which is obviously dependent on
accessibility and mobility - it is once again emphasized that the
link will benefit the industry, in Denmark and Germany to a higher
degree. 67 per cent of Danes believe that the link will benefit
tourism in Denmark (fig. a), 54 per cent of Germans think that this
is the case in Germany (fig. b) whereas 46 per cent of Swedes think
that the link will affect tourism positively in Sweden (fig. c).
However, 60 per cent of both the Swedes and the Germans believe
that tourism in Denmark will benefit from the link.

Fig. a: To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following
statement: The Fixed Link across the Fehmarnbelt will benefit
tourism in Denmark?

Fig. b: To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following
statement: The Fixed Link across the Fehmarnbelt will benefit
tourism in Germany?

Fig c: To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following
statement: The Fixed Link across the Fehmarnbelt will benefit
tourism in Sweden?

Jobs and competiveness: Denmark
is in the lead

Regarding questions about job creation and improved
competitiveness, both Swedes and Germans points at Denmark as the
big winner again:

When it comes to job creation, Denmark is again considered a
winner. An average of 47 per cent the sample in the three countries
believe that the Fixed Link will lead to more jobs in Denmark,
compared to 41 per cent who believe that this is the case in
Germany and 29 per cent believe this is the case in
Sweden .

When it comes to improved competitiveness as a consequence of
the Fehmarnbelt Link, 45 - 47 per cent of the sample in all three
countries believe that Denmark´s competitiveness will be improved
as a consequence of the link. Between 36 and 40 per cent think that
this will happen in Germany. For Sweden, between 28 and 41 per cent
believe there will be improved competitiveness, resulting in Sweden
as the country most sceptical of its own prospects.

Note: YouGov conducted this survey on
behalf of STRING. The 806 interviews were conducted in Hamburg and
Schleswig-Holstein, 505 in Skåne and 505 in Zealand using the
so-called CAWI-interview method between November
3rd and November 11th - and thus
before the new report of December 12th on a further delay in the
planning procedure for FBFL. The survey was conducted via YouGov's
online-panel.

STRING partners

STRING is a political cross-border partnership between Akershus County and Østfold County in Norway, Region Halland, Region Västra Götaland, Region Skåne and the City of Malmö in Sweden, the City of Copenhagen, the Capital Region of Denmark and Region Zealand in Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and the City of Hamburg and in Germany.